IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan who quit service asked to join duty immediately

New Delhi, Aug 29: IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan, who put in his papers last week while highlighting the "denial of freedom of expression to the people of Jammu and Kashmir", has been asked to resume duty till his resignation is accepted.

The notice, issued by the Personnel Department of Daman and Diu, cited rules by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). It said resignation by a government officer "becomes effective when it is accepted".

"Therefore, you are hereby directed to continue attending to your assigned duties immediately, till a decision is taken on your resignation," as per PTI.

Since Kannan was not present in Silvassa, the notice was posted on the door of the room at the government guest house where he lived. Kannan, who was the secretary at the power department of the Union Territories of Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, had submitted his resignation to the Home Ministry on August 21.

After submitting his resignation, 2012-batch IAS officer claimed he took the decision because he wanted to express his views against the "denial of freedom of expression" in Kashmir. However, his resignation made no mention of the Kashmir issue.

The officer hailing from Kerala said the decision to scrap special status of J&K under Article 370 "is the right of an elected government" but in a democracy people had the right to respond to such decisions.

"After taking the decision on Kashmir, nearly 20 days have passed and even now, the people there are not allowed to react or respond to it and that is not acceptable in a democratic set-up. Personally, I could not accept it and continue in the service during such a time," he had told PTI.

The 32-year-old officer had first come into limelight when he hid his identity and joined in relief work during the 2018 Kerala floods.